Sandy Nurse was elected to represent the 37th Council District in 2021 after a career in environmental and social justice nonprofits. She continued to focus on these issues as the Chair of the Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management, leading the Council’s ambitious Zero Waste legislation earlier this year. Nurse strongly supports CU’s reform agenda and has cosponsored measures to move city elections to even-numbered years, improve the design of ranked choice voting, and change post-employment lobbying restrictions. She prioritizes police accountability and wants to empower the CCRB with the authority to determine disciplinary action. She describes her approach to elected office as “co-governance” – developing and moving legislation with coalitions of grassroots organizations. In her interview and questionnaire, Nurse demonstrated exceptional competence in addressing the issues at hand and was able to skillfully communicate important insights on enhancing the City Council’s work. Citizens Union appreciates her commitment to reform and endorses her in this race.

A recent college graduate, Isaiah Vega is an avid community volunteer. Most recently, he got involved in the Medical Freedom Party, a collaboration of candidates who believe individual rights had been violated by COVID vaccine mandates and seek to reinstate and compensate unvaccinated workers who were forced off their jobs during the pandemic. Other priorities for Vega include strengthening education and public safety. He noted his support for most of CU’s reform priorities. He believes that a bipartisan committee of Council Members, the Mayor, and an NYPD commanding officer should be in charge of discipline in cases of police accountability. Citizens Union appreciates Vega’s dedication to the community and encourages him to remain civically involved.